Why is this important?

While Republicans constantly invoke our nation's founders, they and a large number of individuals and organizations who support them, are in violation of one of our founders' earliest proscriptions: Seditious Conspiracy, made illegal through The Sedition Act of 1798.

Seditious Conspiracy as it pertains to the current shutdown of the United States federal government is defined in 18 USC § 2384 of the Criminal Code as:

"[T]wo or more persons in any State or Territory, or in any place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, conspir[ing] to ... by force ... prevent, hinder, or delay the execution of any law of the United States."

The Code further defines the punishment:

"[T]hey shall each be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than twenty years, or both."

There is no question but that a large, coordinated plot was hatched and then carried out by a covert group of individuals for the purpose of preventing, hindering, and delaying The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by force using a government shutdown as their weapon.

The damages caused by this seditious act are numerous and immeasurable. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are without ongoing income to support their families. Children are going hungry. Our veterans’ families are being denied death benefits for the loss of their loved-ones in battle. Thousands of families will see their personal credit scores gutted as they are increasingly unable to pay bills that continue while their income has been cut off.

States, cities, and communities are suffering billions in lost revenue from tourism due to the closure of national parks, museums, monuments, and more. They will suffer further as property values in their neighborhoods begin to plunge as more American families are hit with foreclosure when they can't meet their mortgage obligations without steady income from their work.

The reputation and good standing of the United States has already taken a major hit, as institutions are selling off short-term Treasury bonds and demanding higher returns in interest for the purchase of longer-term bonds.

"The yield on the one-month T-bill jumped to 0.27 percent Wednesday, its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis. The yield was nearly zero at the beginning of the month. Money market mutual fund managers don't want to be caught holding U.S. government debt that comes due around the time the government hits the debt ceiling. They fear that the government may not be able to pay back bond holders, said Gabriel Mann at the Royal Bank of Scotland Group.

"'Investors are buying protection,'" Mann said, referring to growing demand for insurance against the U.S. defaulting on its debt — a security known on Wall Street as a credit default swap. Overnight interest rates in the repo market, used by banks to fund day-to-day lending, shot up to 0.12 percent Wednesday from 0.04 percent at the beginning of the month.

"The increase is partly because some banks have stopped accepting some U.S. Treasurys as collateral, or are requiring more collateral, to borrow."

These individuals acting in concert have gone far beyond the free speech protected by the 1st Amendment, protections up to which they are only entitled to the point of causing “clear and present danger.” And with the shutting down of vital services of our government, they have demonstrably caused “clear and present danger” to the United States of America. There is very real, tangible, and dangerous damage being done to our country's economic stability, our reputation throughout the world, and to our national security.

These individuals and everyone in the groups to which they belong — or any other group that contemplates similar actions in the future — must be made to understand the consequences of such conspiratorial acts against the government. And we must hold accountable those whose long-term plotting has already directly caused the damage the country is suffering — and will continue to suffer long after the shutdown ends — it's what The Sedition Act was enacted to punish.

Reasons for signing

Kelly H.
2014-09-13 19:13:16 -0700

I read the name of the Koch brothers, and then I recognized all these names immediately. And then I read the acts they violated. Yeah. I'm in.
As an engineering student I never played into history much. But I've indulged in brief grazes of it. After skimming this petition, I didn't need to dust off American history books to know that these individuals are not playing into the greater good.

I signed because I am tired of this country being held hostage along with it's citizens to satisfy the greed of the 1%. If they are Job creators where are the jobs? Where is the trickle down? It's a big lie. GOP is killing this country and the Planet !!!!!! Leave our healthcare alone!!!!!